Line Balance Calculator
See how evenly the work is spread across the stations on a line.
What this calculator does
Stations with no work content entered are excluded. Efficiency uses the longest entered station time as the cycle time; a takt time, if entered, is used only for the theoretical minimum station count.
Inputs and what they mean
- Station 1 work content
- — number value.
- Station 2 work content
- — number value.
- Station 3 work content (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Station 4 work content (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Station 5 work content (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Station 6 work content (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Station 7 work content (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Station 8 work content (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Your takt time (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result. Used only to show the theoretical minimum number of stations. It is not used in the efficiency calculation..
How to use it
- Enter your own figures — the calculator never fills in a rate, price or benchmark for you.
- Press Calculate to see the result.
- Read the formula, variables, assumptions and source below the result before you rely on it.
Formula
Line balance efficiency = Total work content ÷ (Number of stations × Longest station time) × 100; Balance delay = 100 − Efficiency
Worked example
A five-station line
Efficiency compares the work content with the time the longest station forces on every station.
Reading the result
The headline figure is the main answer. Any breakdown underneath shows the parts that make it up, so you can check the working and see what changes when you adjust an input.
Limitations and assumptions
Results depend entirely on the figures you enter and are rounded for display. They are for general information and education, not professional advice.
Reference: Massachusetts Institute of Technology — 2.854 Introduction to Manufacturing Systems
Last reviewed:
Common questions
Formula, source and verification
Total task time compared with the time every station is forced to take by the slowest one.
The question it answers: Which station is holding the line back, and how evenly is the work spread across the stations?
The formula
Line balance efficiency = Total work content ÷ (Number of stations × Longest station time) × 100; Balance delay = 100 − Efficiency
- ti — Station work content
- (min). Work content of each station; stations left at zero are not counted.
- n — Stations
- (count). Number of stations with work content entered.
- Cmax — Longest station time
- (min). The slowest station, which sets the line's cycle time.
- T — Takt time
- (min). Optional. Used only to show the theoretical minimum number of stations.
Units: Minutes in; percentage out.
What kind of calculation this is
Deterministic formula. The same inputs always give the same answer. The maths is fixed and does not depend on judgement.
Method
Stations with no work content entered are excluded. Efficiency uses the longest entered station time as the cycle time; a takt time, if entered, is used only for the theoretical minimum station count.
Assumptions built into the result
- Mathematical: Every quantity, time and rate is the figure the user entered, measured over the period they describe.
- Mathematical: Times and counts refer to the same period and the same resource.
- Mathematical: Each station's work content is measured on the same basis, for one unit.
Figures this calculator will never guess for you
- No industry benchmark, target utilisation or target availability is supplied or applied.
- No shift length, break allowance, downtime allowance or standard rate is assumed.
- Optional components are excluded from the result when left at zero.
Limitations
- Arithmetic over the figures entered — it cannot tell whether the measurements behind them are right.
- A measured result, an industry benchmark and an organisation's target are three different things; only the entered figures are used.
- The theoretical minimum station count ignores precedence between tasks, so a real line often needs more stations than it shows.
Source and version
- Standard or reference
- Manufacturing systems — throughput, cycle time, work in process and line balancing — MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OpenCourseWare 2.854 Introduction to Manufacturing Systems — throughput is output per unit of time, cycle time is run time divided by the units produced, line capacity is set by the slowest station, and balance efficiency compares total work content with the number of stations multiplied by the longest station time.)
- Published source
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Fall 2016
- Formula version
- Version 1
- Verification
- Reviewed against the cited source on
- How much weight the source carries
- Academic
- Applies to
- Currency
- The result is a ratio or index, so it does not depend on currency.
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